May 15, 2026, 8:24 am | Read time: 3 minutes
Rosalia Lombardo died more than 100 years ago. The body of the little girl is so well preserved that she is considered the most beautiful mummy in the world today. She is interred in the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, Sicily–and has been a tourist attraction there for decades.
Rosalia Lombardo was born on December 13, 1918, as the daughter of General Mario Lombardo in the Sicilian capital of Palermo. But her life ended shortly thereafter. Before her second birthday, on December 6, 1920, the girl died of pneumonia as a result of the Spanish flu. However, Rosalia was not buried like other victims of the pandemic that was rampant at the time.
After her death, her father commissioned chemist Alfredo Salafia to embalm his daughter’s body. With a special preservation method, Salafia achieved something extraordinary: The mummy, later interred in the crypt of the Capuchin convent in Palermo, is so well preserved that it is considered the most beautiful mummy in the world. Even the tiniest hairs on the child’s face are visible.
Mystery of the “Secret Formula”
Scientists puzzled over the embalming method used by Salafia for decades. It wasn’t until 2009 that the secret of the formula was revealed, thanks to documents from the chemist’s estate that resurfaced. According to Dario Piombino-Mascali, an anthropologist and scientific curator of the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, it is “a mixture of formalin, glycerin, zinc sulfate, alcohol, and salicylic acid,” reports and quotes Deutschlandfunk.
Another mystery: The girl’s eyes appear to open several times a day. To investigate the causes of this phenomenon, researchers photographed the mummy at 60-second intervals over the course of a day, according to the online portal Italiani.it. It was determined that this is apparently a phenomenon caused by humidity and flash photography. In the photos, it looks as if the eyelids are opening and closing.
Also of interest: The monk who seems neither dead nor alive
“Sleeping Beauty” in a Glass Coffin
Of the more than 2,000 mummies in the crypt beneath the Capuchin monastery in Palermo, Rosalia Lombardo’s mummy is the most famous. It attracts numerous tourists from both home and abroad to the catacombs. However, the high level of interest eventually became dangerous for the most beautiful mummy in the world. Therefore, in 2012, she was reinterred in a glass coffin to protect her from camera flashes and other external influences, writes Deutschlandfunk.
The Capuchin monastery where she rests was built in 1534, and the crypt in 1599. Until 1670, the catacombs were primarily used to bury Capuchin friars. Bodies that showed few signs of decay were placed against the walls. Later, members of the upper class were also interred in the Capuchin crypt–until burials there were banned at the end of the 19th century. However, there were exceptions, such as the burial of the mummy of little Rosalia Lombardo.